> The Cutie Mark Killers
>  by Squarks
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> After School Special
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Cutie Mark Killers
Part one: The after-school special

Scootaloo sighed. It was near the end of the school day, and she was anxious to get home. She looked up at the clock; two-thirty. Only a half hour remained. She wasn’t even pretending to listen to Mrs. Cheerilee anymore, her eyes kept glazing over and drifting around the room. She glanced out the window, at the beautiful day she was being robbed of. It wasn’t fair! Mrs. Cheerilee had given this lesson at least a dozen times, the same old song about cutie marks relating to everyponies special talents, and how it takes real dedication and patience to make one appear.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes at the thought. Who was more dedicated then her and the other cutie mark crusaders? At that, she lazily turned her head towards where her two best friends sat. AppleBloom looked nearly comatose, her eyes heavily lidded, drooling slightly onto her desk. Suppressing a giggle, she looked past AppleBloom to see Sweetie Belle. To her surprise, Sweetie Belle was sitting at rapt attention; hanging off Mrs. Cheerilee’s every word. She seemed to be silently repeating something under her breath, with a look of pure determination set on her face. Finally, when Cheerilee stopped talking for a moment, Sweetie Belle shot her hand up. The dramatic movement was enough to wake up AppleBloom.

Cheerilee smiled softly and said: “yes, Sweetie Belle?”

“Well…” She began: “If a cutie mark is what reflects what you are best at, what happens if what you are best at is something bad?”

Cheerilee’s sweet smile faltered slightly. “What do you mean?”

“ummm…” Sweetie Belle trailed off, not sure how to continue. “Let’s say that there was a pony who was a really good robber. Would his cutie mark be something that reflects that?”

All of the eyes in the class turned to Cheerilee.

“Well you see… umm…” The teacher stammered, having never been asked that before. However, she knew the answer of course. “You see… Even if a pony’s talent is against the law, it is still a talent, so yes, it would be reflected in their cutie mark.” “However…” she quickly stated, seeing the confused-looking faces around the room, “That doesn’t make it any less wrong to break the law, and it makes a pony much easier to catch if they run around with a robber cutie mark.” She chuckled lightly at her own joke.

Sweetie Belle nodded with a smile on her face.

“Huh. Why didn’t I think of that?” Scootaloo thought to herself.

“OK class, looks like we’re out of time for today! Remember, your assignments on Alicorn history are due Monday!”

“Finally!” Thought Scootaloo, and she nearly leapt out of her seat. She was just about to bolt to the door when she heard Sweetie Belle give her and AppleBloom a hoarse whisper.

“Wait here until everypony leaves… I need to ask Mrs. Cheerilee something” She said. Sweetie Belle was sweating slightly, and her front hooves were shaking. She looked almost… nervous? No, more… anxious?

The three of them waited in their seats until all of the other students had left the classroom to go home.

Cheerilee looked up from the stack of papers she was stuffing into her bag, seeing the three fillies alone in the classroom, looking up at her.

“Is there something you need?” She asked, confused.

“Yeah, actually,” said Sweetie Belle, “I need to ask you something. I think I found out how to get a cutie mark really easily, and I wanted to know if you would help me out with it.”

Cheerilee chuckled to herself. These three always had some scheme or adventure planned to obtain there marks.

“Of course!” she said, mostly humoring the filly.

Scootaloo noticed that something wasn’t right. Sweetie Belle was acting strange. Her horn glowed faintly with turquoise light, and her desk slowly creaked open.

“Would you do aaanything to help us?”

“I’ll try my best.” Cheerilee said, closing her eyes and beaming at them.

“Good”

Scootaloo saw the knife far too late. Like a bullet, it shot from Sweetie Belle’s desk, flung with magic at their teacher.

There was a dull “thwick” as the blade sank deep into Cheerilee’s purple chest. Her eyes bulged open, and she staggered back a few steps, a look of pure confusion and terror on her face.
Time froze.

Sweetie Belle was standing on her desk, front leg stretched out in front of her like she had physically thrown the knife with her hoof.

AppleBloom was staring at the knife in Cheerilee, mouth agape.

Scootaloo couldn’t even start to process what just happened.

A river of dark red started to flow from the knife, dripping to the floor. Cheerilee looked at Sweetie Bell, and managed to take a shaky step towards the filly.

“Grab Her!” Shouted Sweetie Belle, her horn lighting up again. “Don’t let her get anywhere!”

Acting on pure instinct, Scootaloo dove at Cheerilee, grabbing her front leg. She was dimly aware of AppleBloom doing the same to the other one. The force of the impact knocked Cheerilee off balance, and she toppled to the floor, rolling onto her back. The teacher let out a hoarse scream as she got over the initial shock and felt the blinding pain of the blade that was lodged inches in her chest.

Sweetie Belle pounced on top of her teacher, her horn alight. The knife became wrapped in her magic, and was pulled out of the wound. As the tip left Cheerilee, blood began flowing more freely, pouring down her sides, forming a pool crimson around them. 

Sweetie Belle looked manic. A huge grin split her features, and her eyes were light up with delight. She had been looking forward to this all day. It had to work; there was nothing left to try. She would get her cutie mark today!

She brought the blade back down into Cheerilee, sinking it even deeper into a spot a few inches from the first wound. Their teacher let out another pained scream, and arched her back towards the ceiling in agony. She tried to push herself off of the floor, but her rapidly draining strength couldn’t overcome the three foals pinning her down. The blade was extracted again, and for a third time, it dove into her, this time lower down, in her stomach.

“NOOO! NO NO NO!” She screamed. “Stop this! Please!” She started sobbing, the blinding pain was too much to bear. AppleBloom, with a terrified look on her face, shoved her hoof into Cheerilee’s mouth, attempting to silence her.

Sweetie Belle frowned. It wasn’t supposed to take this long. She had assumed that her teacher would just drop dead instantly. She started stabbing her repeatedly, spraying blood and bits of mangled flesh everywhere. Again and again the knife came down, shredding the writhing pony underneath her. However, the Teacher still screamed her blood-curtailing scream into AppleBloom’s hoof. Sweetie Bell had to try something else. 

“Make sure you hold her still.” She told her friends.

“Sweetie Belle…” AppleBloom croaked. “What’s happening? Why are you doing this?” 

“I’ll explain when I’m done, but right now you have to have my back on this. You have my back?” Sweetie Belle looked between the two fillies, a determined look in her eye.

“…I have your back” Scootaloo whispered. She couldn’t explain it, but everything that was happening made sense, like she found the last piece of a puzzle.

“Good! And you?” Sweetie Bell said, looking towards AppleBloom.

“Uhhh… Yeah…” AppleBloom stammered. Her normally off-yellow coat hat turned slightly pale. She looked down on the sobbing pony underneath her. Gathering herself, she solemnly nodded. “I got your back”

“Excellent, now, just hold her down” Sweetie Belle said.

With all her power, she sank the blade right in the middle of Cheerilees torso, and pulled down on it. The sharp tool neatly cut a line from her ribcage down towards her pelvis. Setting the knife aside, she pulled aside the twin flaps of ragged skin and muscle like curtains.

Inside was the worst sight Scootaloo had ever seen. Her organs were there, in full view. The stomach was punctured in several places, with bile bubbling out and collecting in the cavity surrounding it. Her intestines were even worse off, with slash marks all over them. They were almost severed in places. Blood began to pool into the gaping wound, congealing into a dark brown puddle. Cheerilee couldn’t scream anymore, she drifted in and out of consciousness, the life slowly draining from her.

Sweetie Belle stepped into the wound with her hind legs, separating the sides of the incision even further.

Using her magic, she picked up the knife again. She grabbed the large intestines, and with a small smile, cut them loose from the stomach. Sweetie Belle bundled them up with her front hooves, and pulled them from the body with a horrible squelching noise. A sickly green sludge began to drip from the severed end. Placing them to the side of the body, she turned her attention to the stomach. She slashed at it with the knife, shredding the thin tissue. Rivers of foul-smelling acid and half-digested food spilled from the destroyed organ. Tearing it from the cavity with her hooves, she placed it next to the intestines on the floor.

Reaching into the now mostly-empty maw with her knife, she thrusted up towards where she hoped the heart and lungs were. Clumsily she stabbed upwards repeatedly, each time drawing less and less blood.

“Sweetie Belle…”

Sweetie Belle continued thrusting, sinking the blade again and again through the diaphragm and into the bottom of the lungs.

“Sweetie Belle!”

Startled, she looked up. AppleBloom was looking at Cheerilees face. Their teacher’s eyes had rolled up in their sockets, and her mouth was hanging open, blood dripping from it. Her chest no longer moved, and the flesh underneath her seemed strangely cold.

Cheerilee was dead.

Scootaloo took a few steps back to take in the grisly scene before her. Blood was everywhere. In her frenzied swinging, Sweetie Belle had managed to spray it nearly six feet in every direction. The corpse in front of her was stained red, with clumps of skin and flesh hanging loosely from the massive hole in its torso. Dozens of smaller wounds dotted the body. The pool of blood under the body had stopped spreading, and was mixing with the juices from the organs, created a sickening stench that filled the classroom.

AppleBloom was still clutching the corpse’s leg, looking even more pale than before. Her face was an expressionless mask looking down into the half empty chest cavity of her former teacher. Shaking, she dipped her hoof into the mess and scooped up some of the bloody pulp, examining it closely.

Scootaloo looked back at Sweetie Belle, who was cleaning her knife with the side of Cheerilee’s leg. She was covered in gore, her normally white coat stained with red.

“What did we do?” AppleBloom asked, voice trembling. “She was our teacher… and we…”

“We did what we had to do to get our cutie marks!” Replied Sweetie Belle, turning towards her. “You heard what she said, cutie marks can appear even if we do bad things. And since we have tried every good thing imaginable, this was our last option!”

“yeah… I guess you’re right.” Said Scootaloo from behind them, deep in thought. Was this their special talent? Killing ponies? She did feel something when she watched as Sweetie Belle was stabbing their teacher. It felt really exciting, like it was what she always wanted to do, but never knew it.

It was fun.
She wanted more.

Sweetie Belle was circling in place, attempting to get a good look at her own flank. “Did it appear? Do I have a mark?”
“Sorry Belle, still blank flank” replied Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle sighed warily.

“Oh well, we’re just going to have to try harder next time” She said. “Right AppleBloom?”

They both looked at the tan earth pony. She was still looking at the mass of red mush in her hoof. She leaned forward and sniffed it, then gave it an experimental lick.

“EWWWWW!” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo squealed together.

“What?” Said AppleBloom, looking genuinely confused.

“That is sooo gross!” said Scootaloo.

“Not really, it’s actially really good!” AppleBloom licked the pulp again, and a soft moan escaped her throat. “I always wanted to know what meat tasted like, living entirely off apples gets mighty boring after a while.”

“Sooo gross…” Repeated Scootaloo.

“we should clean up a little here… it looks a little… murder-y” said Sweetie Belle, looking around the scene in front of her. The other two crusaders nodded in agreement, and went about fixing the place up. They cleaned up all of the bodily fluids, dumping them into the sink in the washroom. With that done, they dragged Cheerilee, (with her insides hastily re-inserted) and shoved her into the broom cupboard at the back of the class.

“So what now?” asked AppleBloom, who was idly chewing on the remainder of the gore in her hoof.

“Well, we need to decide which pony should be next, and we need to find a way to erm… take care of them more silently.” Sweetie Belle said, rubbing her chin with her hoof.

“Im sure Zecora has some powerful sleeping potions!” Exclaimed AppleBloom.

“And Ms. Sparkle would have a useful binding spell at the library!” Said Scootaloo. “That way, we won’t need to keep holding them down.”

“Them?” Asked AppleBloom skeptically.

“Well yeah, it might take more than one to really get our talent down and make our marks.” Scootaloo secretly just wanted to feel the thrill of taking a life again and again, cutie mark or no.

“Makes sense.” AppleBloom said. She swallowed, and sighed as the last of her impromptu meal slid down her throat. “Man that’s good”.

“So its decided!” Scootaloo declared. “We go straight to the library, then Zecora’s so we can get our cutie mark crusade on!”

The Crusaders bumped hooves and trotted out of the class, not sparing another thought to the cadaver they left in the broom cupboard.

---===---
Fluttershy trotted along the outskirts of the town square, where the crowds of ponies were thinnest. The timid pegasus normally stayed away from town on Friday afternoons, but she had promised Cheerilee that she would deliver the cookies she had ordered from Sugar Cube Corner. Normally Pinkie Pie took care of deliveries, but they had such a terrible backorder that Fluttershy had volunteered to help.

As she crossed the square, she saw three familiar fillies running full tilt towards the library. Seeing them brought a little smile to Fluttershy’s face. Off on another crusade, she guessed. She made a mental note to check on them later. Whenever they went on their little adventures, they usually managed to get into some kind of trouble. Mostly minor but…

She shuddered, remembering the incident in Everfree forest. Ok, checking up on them was priority, after she finished with Cheerilee, she decided.

A few minutes later, she was at the school. It looked like classes were done for the day. It seemed oddly peaceful without dozens of fillies and colts running around. She stepped inside, and looked around. Cheerilee was nowhere to be seen. Strange, she usually stayed in the classroom a few hours after school hours to grade papers and prepare the next day’s lesson.

Oh well, Fluttershy would just have to try Cheerilee’s house. She was just about to turn around when she heard a faint dripping sound. Curious, she turned to where the sound was coming from. It seemed to be from the back of the class.

She cautiously edged towards the sound, starting to feel slightly alarmed. It was silly, she knew, but she couldn’t really help it. She took a deep breath, and sang a song in her head that Pinkie Pie had taught her a long time ago.

“Giggle at the ghostly,
Guffaw at the grossly…”

The sound was getting louder, but the time between drips was getting longer.

“Chortle at the cooky,
Snortle at the spooky…”

Fluttershy had followed the sound to the far corner of the room, where the broom cupboard was. She leaned towards it to look closer. A thick red fluid was tripping from the corner of the door. It almost looked like…

Fluttershy let out a terrified squeak. There was no mistaking it now. Trembling, she reached her hoof towards the door handle. With a sudden movement, she whipped it open.

All that she remembered seeing was Cheerilee falling down towards her, knocking Fluttershy over and landing in a heap on the floor, face-first. Fluttershy bolted back up to her feet, now in full panic mode.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh…”

She gently prodded the pony on the ground. When no response came, Fluttershy turned her over onto her back.
What she saw nearly made her pass out on the spot. There were cuts everywhere on Cheerilee’s chest, thin ones, but unmistakably deep. What drew Fluttershy’s eye, however, was the massive laceration going down the earth pony’s stomach. It was separated slightly, a horror show of misplaced organs underneath. Fluttershy stumbled backwards, distancing herself from the dead teacher. 

“not again…” She thought. She looked around, nopony was there of course. Trembling, she walked over to the windows and shut the curtains. Glancing back over to the corpse, she felt a sickening yet familiar sensation bubble within her. It had been years since she last felt it, and the results had been… messy.

“I’ll just be cleaner this time…” She thought, rubbing her front hooves together. “This one last time.”
A predatory grin lit her face up, and she walked towards the body.

End of part one.

	
> Gathering Supplies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Cutie Mark Killers
Part 2: Gathering Supplies



Scootaloo held her breath. A bead of sweat trickled down her brow. She swallowed, and then gave the “all clear” signal to Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo was being suspended from the chimney carved into the middle of Zecora’s tree-hut, used to clear smoke from the giant cauldron at the centre of the room below. Above her, Sweetie Belle and AppleBloom were carefully lowering her to the ground using some old rope they found beside the hut.

This plan was stupid, she thought. Why did she get talked into this? If they had just asked Zecora, Scootaloo was sure that she would have helped them. But noooo, Sweetie Belle had insisted that it would “raise suspicion”. So they had waited until late at night until they were sure the zebra was asleep and came up with this crazy idea.

She looked over to Zecora, and was relieved to see she was still soundly sleeping. A few seconds later, Scootaloo was on the ground. She Looked up to Sweetie Belle and nodded. Sweetie Belle silently slid down the rope to meet her. Without a word, she reached into her small saddlebag and grabbed the book on potions they had got from the library. Opening to where they had marked the page, she indicated the flower they were looking for. A purple one with a golden centre. It was the key ingredient of the anesthetic potion they needed.

Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle went about looking for the blossom, while AppleBloom stayed on the roof. If anything went wrong, she would be there to pull them up. Searching wasn’t easy, as it seemed like there were dozens of various flowers and herbs dotting the shelves surrounding the room. After what seemed like an hour, Scootaloo finally saw what they were looking for. The Flower was on the top of a shelf at the far side of the room.

Right above Zecora’s head.

Scootaloo gulped, and pointed it out to Sweetie Belle. This wasn’t going to work, they needed a new plan. The two of them regrouped on the far side of the hut.

“Now what?” Whispered Scootaloo.

“Well, we need that flower, and I’m defiantly not going home without it.” Said Sweetie Belle. “Can’t you fly up to the shelf and grab it?”

“Not really, I don’t have enough control to hover in place to grab something, never mind doing it silently.” Scootaloo sighed. “I could try to climb the shelves.”

“I guess…” Said Sweetie Belle, looking concerned. “But I’m going to get the binding spell ready, just in case.” 

“Good idea”

Sweetie Belle opened her saddlebag once again, and retrieved a very old-looking book. She flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for. The binding spell was simple enough. Sweetie Belle had seen Ms. Sparkle the librarian use it plenty of times without even thinking. Still, Sweetie Belle had made sure to practice it until it was perfect, much to the chagrin of AppleBloom, her test subject.

Scootaloo started slowly climbing the shelves, taking extreme care not to disturb the zebra sleeping almost directly underneath her. When she reached the top, Scootaloo grabbed the flower with her teeth and slowly pulled it down. As she dragged the flower however, it brushed against a glass vial containing a clear liquid. 

The vial wobbled, and fell. Scootaloo watched in horror for what seemed like an eternity as it fell towards Zecora’s face. It bounced off of the zebra’s forehead and smashed on the floor. With a yelp, Zecora bolted uptight, fully awake.

“What in Equestria is happening here? Whoever is responsible faces punishment most severe!” Zecora looked towards where the vial had dropped from. Scootaloo was still there, frozen, with the flower still clutched in her mouth.

“Scootaloo, have you gone completely insane? When I get you, you’re in a world of pain!”

“Uhhh, Sweetie Belle… any time now…” Scootaloo said, spitting out the flower. Both her and Zecora looked over to where Sweetie Belle was standing, just as she released her binding spell.

There was a light blue flash from her horn, and Zecora was flung against the wall, a turquoise glow surrounding her limbs. Zecora looked furious, and started struggling against her magical restraints. 

“Scootaloo do something! I can’t hold her for long!” Sweetie Belle cried. 

Panicking, Scootaloo looked around the shelf. Nothing there looked like it could really be used as a weapon. It was just full of various herbs and flowers, along with a mortar and pestle.

“Well,” She thought, “It’s better than nothing” 

She grabbed the pestle and jumped off of the shelf. With all of her weight, she brought the makeshift club down on Zecora’s head. With a dull crack, the granite tool bounced off her skull, knocking her unconscious. A faint trickle of blood dripped down her face.

Getting to her hooves, Scootaloo backed away from Zecora and went to Sweetie Belle.

“Now what?” She asked frantically. 

“I don’t know,” Sweetie Belle replied, “but we have to do something before she wakes up again.” She let go of the magic surrounding Zecora, and the turquoise glow dissipated.

“What’s going on down here?” AppleBloom had slid down the rope to join the other two crusaders. 

“Zecora woke up, and Scootaloo knocked her out. Now we’re figuring out what to do.”  Sweetie Belle replied.

“Well that’s obvious.” Said AppleBloom. “We have to get rid of her.”

“Huh?”

“Give me that.” AppleBloom snatched the pestle from Scootaloo. “We have to make sure Zecora never tells anyone that we were here” Without another word, she walked over to Zecora and clubbed her again. The stream of blood grew stronger, but Zecora was clearly still breathing.

“This isn’t working, we need something heavier” AppleBloom said. She looked around the hut. Her eyes rested on the cauldron in the middle of the room. A smile crept to her lips.

“Girls, I need your help with this. Sweetie Belle, lie Zecora down on the ground. Scootaloo, I need you to help me lift that cauldron. 

With a grunt, Sweetie Belle dragged Zecora near the centre of the room, and then went to help out AppleBloom and Scootaloo with the cauldron. They shakily lifted it off of the ground and moved it over Zecora’s head.

“Ok,” Said AppleBloom, “On the count of five, we drop it. This should be enough to crush her skull. One… Two…”

Beneath them, Zecora started to stir.

“TheeFourFive!” Shouted Scootaloo, and the three of them dropped the cauldron as hard as they could. It landed directly on top of Zecora’s face with a pulpy crunch. Blood splattered around the three of them. Zecora’s body convulsed once, then relaxed into an unnatural position.

“Well, that went well” Beamed Sweetie Belle. “Let’s get out of here, before our families start to wonder about us.

“One second, Belle” Said AppleBloom. She rolled the cauldron off of Zecora, revealing the mess underneath. The face was almost beyond recognition, with the muzzle punched into the rest of the head. Bits of skull protruded from the scalp, exposing the soft brain underneath. AppleBloom bent down and carefully extracted some of the grey matter with her teeth. She sighed contentedly and started eating with renewed vigour.

“Seriously, AppleBloom” Said Scootaloo, “That’s really getting creepy.”

AppleBloom continued eating the brain, not answering. Scootaloo looked over at Sweetie Belle, who just shrugged. It was best to just let her do her thing, it wasn’t hurting anypony.

“Ok, I’m done” Said AppleBloom, wiping blood from her mouth. “That tasted pretty good. Not as good as Mrs. Cheerilee, but still”

“You’re messed up, AppleBloom” said Scootaloo, rolling her eyes. “Come on girls, we should really be going. We’ll meet up tomorrow morning and start to brew the anesthetic. Then we can get started on our first-“

“Technically third” interrupted Sweetie Belle.

“…right, third cutie mark kill.”

The three of them bumped hooves and ran out of the hut and towards Ponyville.


_ _- -_ _

“All right, what do we got?” asked a particularly displeased policepony. This was his day off, and he was stuck here in the dammed morgue.

“Well,” the coroner replied, looking at the purple corpse between them. “Severe stab wounds across the upper torso, large laceration across the abdomen, internal organs severely traumatized. Body shows signs of post-mortem intercourse… with a broom.”

“Dear Celestia, ponies are getting sicker by the day. Better get the chief in here, before another pony gets…”

The coroner looked up to see the officer put on a pair of aviator sunglasses.

“…Shafted”

The coroner arched an eyebrow “Yeahhhh…”


End of chapter 2.



> Family Values
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Cutie Mark Killers
Chapter three: Family Values


Scootaloo scratched her head. She and the other two crusaders were sitting in their tree fort, having a brainstorming session. Despite two kills to their name, they still didn’t have cutie marks. Scootaloo sighed and slumped down to the floor. She looked up at her poster of the wonderbolts, particularly at her former idol, Rainbow dash. She sighed again, and occupied herself with staring at the floor.

AppleBloom was mixing a small pot containing their anesthetic potion they had worked so hard for. It was a complicated recipe, but it seemed to be going well. Sweetie Belle was idly flipping through the pages of her spell book, her horn wrapped in a slight glow.

“Well, why didn’t we get cutie marks after Zecora?” Scootaloo asked nopony in particular.

“I think it was because we didn’t really plan either kill.” Sweetie Belle said, looking up from her book. “With Mrs. Cheerilee, I just kind of snapped. When we did Zecora, we were defending ourselves.”

“Right, and that means we weren’t using any special talent. That’s why we didn’t get cutie marks!” Said AppleBloom excitedly. “We just need to get a little more creative!”

“Our next mark should be somepony important, too.” Scootaloo said, “It might help if we knew our talents were being used on a pony who really mattered.”

“You have anypony in mind?” Sweetie Belle asked. 

“Yeah,” An evil smile crept to Scootaloo’s lips. “The elements of harmony.”

“WHAT?” AppleBloom shouted angrily.

“I think we would get our cutie marks easiest from them.” Scootaloo said, unfazed. 

“Those are our sisters you’re talking about Scoots!” Shouted AppleBloom. “We can’t kill them!”

“Why not? They would do anything for us. Especially if it means getting us a cutie mark. I know it seems bad, but there isn’t really another choice here. Anyway, hasn’t AppleJack held you back long enough?”

“W-what do you mean?” AppleBloom stammered.

“Every time you try to do something, AppleJack is there, breathing down your neck” Scootaloo said. “Name one time you tried to do anything for yourself, and your sister didn’t try to stop you.”

AppleBloom glared at her, but was silent.

“Listen, this is for your own good. You can be free from her constantly getting in your way. Without her, you probably would have got your cutie mark years ago.”

“I don’t know…”

“AppleBloom, you have to step out of your sister’s shadow at some point.” Sweetie Belle added, “Might as well be now.”

AppleBloom looked between her friends, lost in thought. This was her sister they were talking about. Sure, they didn’t always get along but… But what? Her friends were right; AppleJack was constantly getting in her way. She had always claimed it was for AppleBloom’s own good. Now, AppleBloom didn’t know. She was older, and could take care of herself. Yet AppleJack was always there, trying to stop her. She always would be too, if AppleBloom didn’t do something about it.

“…All right.” AppleBloom sighed, and sat down. “But let’s do her first, I’d like to get it over with.”

“Deal.” Said Scootaloo, beaming. “How about you, Sweetie Belle? You up to taking out Rarity?”

“Yes.” Sweetie Belle muttered.

“Really?” Scootaloo said, looking excited. “I would have thought you would be against it!”

“Nope. Let’s do her last. She has to know what is happening to the other elements. I want her scared.” There was a terrifying gleam in her eye.

“…Alrighy then.” Scootaloo said, edging away from Sweetie Belle. “So how are we going to take care of AppleJack?”

“Something quick and painless please.” Said AppleBloom, looking uneasy.

“If it’s quick and painless, it might not be enough to get our marks.” Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes.

“Actually, I’ve been coming up with a plan for our next kill” Said Sweetie Belle. “We just need to get them to the cellar under the Apple family’s barn.”

“Then what?” Asked Scootaloo, getting excited.

Sweetie Belle told them her grisly plan, much to the horror of AppleBloom and the delight of Scootaloo. The kill would take a while to complete, and would require much preparation. The three planned planned into the afternoon, making sure that everything would go smoothly. Finally, they agreed, and headed home with quick goodbyes. The nest day would be a busy one.


--==--


AppleBloom walked through the apple orchard, following a steady banging ringing out from the distance. As she got closer, she found her two older siblings bucking their hind legs against the trees, causing apples to rain down around them. Big Macintosh was carrying a cart behind him, which AppleJack had been throwing all of their apples into. The two looked up when they saw AppleBloom.

“Hey little sis, what’s up?” Asked AppleJack. She sat down to take a break, and Big Macintosh went back to work.

“AJ, can you help me with something?” There was a terrible knot forming in AppleBloom’s stomach. However, she fought through her doubts; she knew what hat to be done.

“What might that be?”

“Me and the other crusaders were going to prepare some cider for the summer sun celebration coming up. We wanted you to help us work the juicer.” AppleBloom put on her best puppy eyes face.

AppleJack sighed “Right now? Listen, why don’t you wait until me and Mac’ are done. It should only be a few hours.”

AppleBloom moaned. “A few hours? Never mind, me and my friends can do it ourselves” She turned and started to walk away. She was rewarded with hearing AppleJack curse under her breath.

“Alright AppleBloom, you win, I’ll help. You three couldn’t work the juicer anyway, it’s too dangerous. You good to wrap up here yourself Mac’? She asked, looking over her shoulder.

“Eeyup.” The red workhorse lazily replied.

“All right, Bloom lead the way.”

The two sisters trotted in silence down the dirt path that led to the barn. It was starting to get dark out. Luna’s moon hung on the horizon, causing AppleBloom to feel uneasy. It felt like the princess was watching her every move. She shook her head, clearing the silly thought from her mind. After a ten minute walk, they were there.

AppleBloom opened the trap door to the cellar. “After you, AJ.”

“Right, let’s make this quick. I’ve been working all day, I need a rest.” AppleJack stepped down the stairs into the darkness below.

She reached the bottom of the stairs. It was pitch black. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she heard a rustling to her left. Her head whipped towards the disturbance. Nothing there. Just more blackness. She heard the noise again, this time directly in front of her. She took a step back towards the stairs

“AppleBloom, can you get a light?” Her voice cracked slightly. “I can’t see anything down here!”

There was no response.

“AppleBloom, where are y- Ouch!”  She was cut short by a sharp pain in her front left foreleg. It felt like a bee sting, but the pain quickly grew more intense. It felt like cement was being poured into her veins. Trembling, she reached over with her other hoof to rub the affected area. To her shock, her hoof hit something metal lodged inside of her. Yanking it out, she saw it was a long thin needle.

“What the buck is… is…. going…” She stumbled backwards, trying to find the stairs. Her mind was growing clouded; she couldn’t concentrate on anything, not even the pain. The room started spinning, and she collapsed on the floor. The last thing she saw were three small silhouettes approaching her.


--==--


“Ok, is everything ready? Wake her up, Scoots”

“Got it”

“AppleBloom, get the tool kit”

“…Right”

Scootaloo grabbed a bucket of water and splashed their captive with it. With a groan, AppleJack slowly came to. As she regained consciousness, she tried to move her head around. A large leather strap prevented it. All of her limbs were in similar bindings. Her eyes darted around the room, terror growing. She was tied to a wooden table in the middle of the cellar. Her chest heaved as she started to hyperventilate.

“What’s going on?” She struggled to look at her captors. “Sweetie Belle, is that you? Get help! Scootaloo go with her and… AppleBloom?”

AppleBloom was slowly walking towards AppleJack. Her face may as well have been made of granite for all the expression it showed. She reared back and punched AppleJack as hard as she could in the gut.

AppleJack gasped in pain and reflexively tried to double over. The restraints held tight, however, and her hide was starting to chafe against them.

“AppleBloom, what’s gotten into you?” She demanded, wheezing. “Get me out of here right this second!”

AppleBloom gave no response, but simply backed away and retrieved a large tray. She set it on the table, inches away from her terrified sister’s face. On it were a collection of knives. Arranged from smallest to largest, they were spotlessly clean and looked surgically sharp. AppleJack’s breathing intensified further.

“Bloom… Whatever I did… we can talk about it! You don’t want to do this! Just let me GO!” Seeing the knives put AppleJack into a blind panic. She thrashed around, but got nowhere. The hide on one of her hooves was bleeding faintly.

Scootaloo walked over and grabbed one of the knives. It was short and wide, like a dagger. Unlike AppleBloom, a sinister smile was crossing her face. She walked to the foot of the table. Scootaloo gently pressed the blade against one of AppleJack’s hind legs.

She started to apply pressure slowly at first. Her sick grin grew wider as she pressed. As the skin started to give way, AppleJack cried out in pain. Scootaloo ignored it, and slid the knife deeper into her, past the skin and into the muscle. Blood seeped around the knife, pouring down the leg.

“AppleBloom!” AppleJack shouted, “Please help! I’m sorry, alright? Whatever it was, I’m sorry! I’m sorry! PLEASE!” She was sobbing now.

The blade hit bone. Scootaloo stopped pressing, and quickly yanked it out. A trickle of blood arced between the wound and the blade, splattering across the table.  AppleJack screamed with renewed vigour. 

Scootaloo wasted no time with the other leg. She sank the knife deep into Applejack. It glanced off of the bone, creating a ragged gash as AppleJack tried to buck her leg. The smell of copper was thick in the air as the leg bled profusely. Scootaloo yanked the blade free once more, and tossed it to the side.

Sweetie Belle was next. From the tray, she selected a longer knife, this one thin and curved on one side. She looked down at AppleJack. The earth pony’s breathing was growing ragged. Sweetie Belle watched her chest rhythmically rise and fall. She could see the faint outline of ribs under orange skin.

Taking careful aim, she stabbed the knife between them. A crimson tide instantly sprang from her victim. The knife sunk deep into AppleJack’s lung. AppleJack tried to scream once more, but all that came out was a bloody gurgle. When Sweetie Belle removed the blade, the blood bubbled as air escaped the punctured organ. Sweetie Belle stepped back and stood with Scootaloo.

AppleJack was fading fast. Her eyes were glazing over, and with each breath she tried to take, more blood poured from her side. It was a matter of minutes.

AppleBloom walked closer and put a hoof on her sister’s punctured chest. Without looking, her other hoof grabbed one of the knives.

AppleJack looked into her eyes. For an eternity, their gazes locked. A tear rolled down AppleBloom’s face.

AppleJack opened her mouth for the last time.

“AaapleBlooom…” She croaked “I…”

AppleBloom didn’t let her finish. With a strangled cry, she lifted the knife above her head. As hard as she could, she brought it down. The blade plunged into AppleJack’s throat. It slid through the skin. 

The knife seemed to be moving in slow motion. AppleBloom felt no resistance as it tore through the trachea. The tip found its way between two vertebrae. As it scraped past the bones, the delicate spinal column was severed. The blade continued, until the tip lodged itself into the table underneath.

AppleJack went limp. Her eyes lidded halfway, and rolled up into her skull. The blood flowing from her legs and chest stopped.

The element of honesty had died.

AppleBloom was still clutching the knife. Silence draped over the cellar, punctuated by the occasional drop of blood falling from the table. Eventually, she released her grip. She staggered backwards and collapsed onto her backside. She felt nothing. No pain, no sorrow, no regret. Just an odd numbing sensation.

“You alright AppleBloom?” asked Sweetie Belle.

AppleBloom looked up and saw her friends were looking at her, concern etched across their features. They were a mess. Blood from AppleJack’s lung was splattered across Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo’s front hooves were smeared with gore.

“I’m fine” AppleBloom responded, her voice perfectly even. “Just give me some time alone with my sister. I need to do one last thing.”

“Ok, just give us a shout when you’re done.” Scootaloo said. Her and Sweetie Belle went up the stairs, and closed the trap door behind them.

AppleBloom sat in silence, staring at the corpse in front of her. Minutes passed as she figured out what she was going to do. Her eyes rested on an old hacksaw hanging from the wall. From there, she looked towards the apple juicer. The massive stone wheel should work perfectly.

With a smile, she grabbed the hacksaw and began to work.


--==--


Scootaloo was getting impatient. It had been nearly half an hour. She knew AppleBloom was having a hard time with this, but this was getting ridiculous.

“I’m going down there.” She told Sweetie Belle.

With a huff, Sweetie Belle hopped off of the hay bale she had been lounging on
“Alright, but wait for me.” She said, “And be nice! That can’t have been easy on her.”

They opened the hatch and climbed downstairs. Several torches were lit, bathing the room in a soft glow. There didn’t seem to be anypony down there. Even more pressing however, was that AppleJack’s body was gone.

“Oh hey girls!” AppleBloom said, walking out from behind the juicer. “I was just finishing up!”

“Finishing up with what?” Sweetie Belle asked “And where is your sister’s umm… remains?”

“Right there!” AppleBloom beamed and pointed to a collection of large jars at the base of the giant machine. Each one was filled with a chunky red mixture.

“Eww, what is that… stuff…” Sweetie Belle trailed off in shock as her gaze fell on the juicer’s wheel.

The Stone slab that was used to crush apples into cider looked as if it had been painted dark red. Bits of jagged white had collected at the base of the wheel, unable to be processed. The rancid smell of gore filled the air.

“A-AppleBloom… d-did you…” Scootaloo stammered, not entirely believing what she was seeing. 

“Sure did, and let me tell you, big sis tastes mighty good. Want some?”

As AppleBloom turned around to grab one of the jars, something flashed on her flank. Sweetie Belle squinted at it, then squealed in excitement.

“Oh my gosh, AppleBloom look! Your flank!”

“Huh?” AppleBloom turned around and looked at her backside. There, on her flank, was a shiny new cutie mark.

AppleBloom screamed and leapt into the air. It actually worked! She had finally figured out her place in the world, and had the cutie mark to prove it. She looked back at it. It looked like a cut of red meat with a bite taken out of it. Two crossed knives were in the background.

“Wow, Bloom! That looks awesome!” Scootaloo exclaimed.

“You actually did it! That means ours must not be far behind!” Sweetie Bell said.

“So what now?” Asked Scootaloo.

“Now,” AppleBloom replied, grabbing a jar of AppleJack pulp. “We’re going to bake a pie. Pinkie Pie style”


--==--
End of chapter 3
--==--



> Party of Four
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Cutie Mark Killers
Chapter 4: Party of Four


The cutie mark crusaders trotted through the town towards Sugar Cube Corner. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo quietly discussing how their cutie marks were going to look, while AppleBloom lagged behind. She was carrying one of the large jars of AppleJack pie filling she had made the night before in her saddlebag.

As they walked, they saw a familiar yellow pegasus walking towards them.

“Oh, hello girls.” Fluttershy said with a meek smile, “Where are you off to?”

“Sugar Cube Corner!” Scootaloo piped up, “We have a special ingredient for a new pie!”

Sweetie Belle and AppleBloom shot her a warning glare. Fluttershy didn’t notice, however.

“Oh, how nice. What’s the occasion?”

“We were going to bring it to class to share with everypony. Make sure it’s good before we bake some for the summer sun celebration.” AppleBloom said.

“Wouldn’t school be cancelled?” Fluttershy asked, raising her eyebrow.

“Why would it be?” Replied Scootaloo.

“Oh!... umm…” Fluttershy realized that the three fillies would have no way of knowing what happened to Cheerilee. If she told them, they would want to know how she knew. That would lead to some troubling questions about what she was doing that afternoon. 

“N-nevermind!” Fluttershy stammered with an awkward laugh. Her eyes darted back and forth. “I really have to be going, Zecora said she would have the medicine I asked for ready today.”

“Umm… Zecora’s? You’re going to her place?” Scootaloo asked. “I thought she was-” Scootaloo was cut off by AppleBloom, who had elbowed her in the side.

“What?” asked Fluttershy.

“Nothing! We’ll just uh, let you go then!” AppleBloom said.

The four ponies stood there, in guilty silence, until Fluttershy finally edged around them and headed toward Zecora’s. When she was out of earshot, Sweetie Belle turned to the others.

“You don’t think she knows about Mrs. Cheerilee?” She whispered.

“How could she?” Replied AppleBloom; “Mrs. Cheerilee is locked up in school, nopony would have seen her all weekend.”

“True,” Said Scootaloo, “but do you think Fluttershy was acting a little… strange?”

The other two nodded. She did seem distracted after she mentioned the school being closed.

“Oh well, we’ll deal with it later,” AppleBloom said; “right now, you two need to get your cutie marks!”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

They continued towards Sugar Cube Corner without giving Fluttershy another thought. As they approached the bakery, they noticed something odd. The place was almost empty. Usually it was packed on a Sunday, but today there were only a couple of ponies sitting at one of the tables outside. They trotted in, and saw the bakery was completely empty inside, save for one pink earth pony.

“Hiya girls! Want to try some of my new cupcakes?” Pinkie Pie asked. She seemed ecstatic as usual, despite her shop being empty.

“Sure Pinkie, what kind?” Scootaloo asked. She and AppleBloom approached the counter, while Sweetie Belle stayed by the door a turned the front sign to “closed” behind her back.

“Well… I guess would call them “fireball” flavor” Pinkie said. “But after I gave out a few samples, everypony ran out screaming. Isn’t that weird?”

“yeahhh, on second thought ill pass.” Said Scootaloo, eyeing the cupcakes warily. “Actually, AppleBloom had some pie filling we mixed up yesterday and we were wondering if we could use your oven.”

AppleBloom took the jar of red pulp out of her bag. Pinkie Pie gasped and snatched it from her.

“Ohhhh, mystery pie! My favourite! Let’s see… is it raspberry? No, too chunky… cherry? Strawberry? Ohhhh, the suspense is killing me! I have to try it!”

With that, Pinkie opened the jar and dipped her hoof in. As the cutie mark crusaders looked on in amusement, she brought some of the mush towards her mouth and licked it. As soon as she did, her eyes bulged out in disgust.

“Blegh! What kind of pie filling is this? It’s not sweet at all, it just tastes all bitter and acid-y. Almost like copper or blood or something.”

Scootaloo grinned as Pinkie tried to wipe the taste from her mouth with her clean hoof.

“You guessed it Pinkie Pie!”

“Huh?” Pinkie Pie looked at Scootaloo. Her tongue was still hanging halfway out of her mouth.

“We call it “AppleJack pie” Scootaloo said, her wicked smile growing wider. She walked closer to Pinkie Pie. AppleBloom and Sweetie Belle took up positions on either side of the party pony.

“Why?” Pinkie Pie asked. Her perpetual smile was fading. The acidic taste lingered on her tongue.

“It’s named after the secret ingredient.” Scootaloo responded. She edged even closer.

Pinkie Pie looked between the pegasus and the jar, confused. She was starting to feel uneasy, and the two ponies on either side of her didn’t help. She felt trapped. The taste in her mouth seemed to be growing stronger. That horrible copper taste. She looked at the jar again, and a horrible thought wormed into her mind.

“AppleBloom,” She asked, turning around, “where is your sister?”

“Man, are you really that slow?” Scootaloo snapped, “You’re holding her!”

Dead silence filled the bakery. Pinkie Pie was staring down at the jar, at a loss for words for the first time in her life. That couldn’t be right. AppleJack was back at the farm. She was always back at the farm. This couldn’t be right. It couldn’t be. This had to be a-

Without warning, Pinkie Pie burst into laughter. She dropped the jar, and it smashed on the floor. Red pulp splattered everywhere.

“Ok girls! I have to admit, that was a new one!” Pinkie Pie was nearly in hysterics. “That was a pretty convincing prank! So let’s all go see what AppleJack’s up to!” Desperation was creeping into her voice.

Pinkie Pie was backing away from Scootaloo. Her laughter started to die down, and a horrifying false smile was left plastered on her face.

“She’s dead. You just ate some of her.” Scootaloo closed the distance between them.

“No I didn’t silly! That was pie filling! AppleJack’s back at the farm!” Pinkie Pie was softly giggling in a high-pitched voice. Tears were streaming down her face.

“You really are clueless.” Scootaloo said. She was getting irritated. “Let me break it down for you. We killed AppleJack. We ground her into paste. We fed her to you!”

Pinkie Pie’s giggling grew louder. She looked at her hoof, which was stained red from the bit of AppleJack she had unwittingly sampled. Her chest started heaving. Her vision was starting to fade around the corners. She tried to tell herself that it was all a lie. That it was some horrible, horrible prank. However, as much as she was afraid to admit it to herself, she knew.

AppleJack was dead.

And Pinkie Pie had eaten her.

Pinkie Pie’s deranged giggling stopped abruptly. Her curly mane suddenly lost all of its shape, and it fell loosely to the sides of her neck. She looked like she was staring into space, her manic smile still splitting her features. Finally, she explosively exhaled, and collapsed on the floor. It was too much for her to bear, she passed out.

“What was that all about?” Sweetie Belle said. She was wearily looking over the unconscious Pinkie Pie.

“Just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.” Scootaloo replied. “Come on, let’s get her to the basement.”

The three fillies dragged Pinkie Pie down the stairs. The basement was spartan compared to the frivolously decorated bakery. The walls were bare stone, with only a counter and a few stools as furniture. A rack of knives hung above, and a massive oven dominated the far side of the room.

Sweetie Belle was starting to warm up her binding spell. Her horn had started glowing as she gathered the magic needed for the enchantment. However, Scootaloo stepped in front of her.

“Save your magic,” She said; “I have a better idea.”

She walked over to the counter and grabbed a rolling pin that was resting there. She walked over to Pinkie Pie.  Taking careful aim, she clubbed her front hoof with it several times. Finally, Scootaloo heard a loud crack as Pinkie Pie’s bone fractured. The skin was left bloody and ragged from the impacts.

As Scootaloo was about to give the other leg the same treatment, a small whimper came from Pinkie Pie. She was starting to wake up. 

“What… happened?” Pinkie groggily asked. “Did my number come up?”

She shook her head and tried to stand up. As soon as she tried to put any weight on her broken hoof however, a lance of white hot pain shot up her leg. She cried out and collapsed to the floor. Pinkie looked up and saw Scootaloo looming above her, rolling pin in hand.

“What are you doing Scoots?” Pinkie tried to back away from her with her three good legs.

“We’re going to have a little party.” Scootaloo said. Her voice was laced with malice. A now-familiar rush was creeping up her spine. Scootaloo knew what she wanted. Ever since last night at AppleJack’s cellar, she knew.

Scootaloo lashed out with the rolling pin, catching Pinkie Pie in the knee. The joint bent sideways with a sickening popping sound, inciting more agonized screams from the pink mare.

“And don’t call me “Scoots”.

Pinkie Pie was sobbing on the floor, still trying to get some distance from her attacker. Her mind didn’t know how to process this. Nopony had ever tried to hurt her before.

“Why are you doing this?” She whined, “I didn’t do anything to you.”

“You didn’t do anything, Pinkie.” Said Sweetie Belle. “We just want our cutie marks.”

“How is beating up a pony going to get you a cutie mark?” Pinkie sobbed.

“Well, we aren’t just going to beat you up.” Said Scootaloo. “Anyway, it worked for AppleBloom.”

Pinkie looked over to where AppleBloom was standing. Sure enough, there was a cutie mark emblazoned on her flank. Pinkie could make out what looked like a piece of meat with two crossed knives. With growing revulsion, Pinkie thought back to what Scootaloo had told her in the bakery. If AppleJack was dead, and AppleBloom had a cutie mark that looked like… that… then that meant…

“AppleBloom!” Pinkie shouted. “She was your sister! How could you do something like that to her! You… Monster!”

AppleBloom’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. She seemed detached from what was being said.

“You three should be ashamed of yourselves! What kind of pony kills just for a cutie mark! You’re just… sick!” Pinkie Pie had reached a wall. There was nowhere left to back up to.

“You’re getting kind of annoying, Pinkie. Hold on, I’ll fix that.” Scootaloo said. She walked over to the counter and grabbed a thin, sharp knife from the rack.

“Open wide!” Scootaloo grabbed Pinke Pie’s face and shoved the blade of knife into her mouth. 

Pinkie tried to shriek as the knife cut into her tongue. However, Scootaloo had clamped her jaw shut around the blade. Pinkie Pie reeled in pain as Scootaloo began to twist and slash the knife around, shredding the soft tissue inside. It scraped painfully against her teeth, and peeled the skin off of the roof of her mouth. Blood was pooling in the back of her throat, making her gag.

Sweetie Belle and AppleBloom grabbed Pinkie’s front legs to ensure she didn’t try to fight back. The trauma of the fillies grabbing her broken limbs combined with the knife in her mouth nearly made Pinkie Pie pass out again. Her eyes fluttered shut.

“Wake up!” snapped Scootaloo, slapping pinkie Pie hard across the face. This snapped her awake.

Scootaloo slashed the knife to the side, cutting through Pinkie’s cheek. Blood splattered across the wall. With her mouth now empty, Pinkie Pie began coughing and spitting up a fountain of torn flesh and blood.

“Hey AppleBloom,” Scootaloo said. “I think we found the perfect addition to your pie.”

AppleBloom smiled and let go of Pinkie’s leg. The blood dripping from Pinkie Pie’s mouth was making her stomach rumble.

“Give me some from the leg.” She said. “I bet it’s nice and tender now.”

Scootaloo smiled and turned her knife to Pinkie Pie’s right front leg, where she had started her assault. Sweetie Belle held it steady while Scootaloo cut into the flesh with in a jagged sawing motion.  

Pinkie Pie’s mouth was so torn up, all she could do was whimper. She tried to feebly kick her assailants with her hind legs. She was so weak though, the fillies barely even noticed. She looked over to where Scootaloo was cutting. There was blood pouring from her leg, and a ragged piece of flesh was being slowly peeled away. The burning pain was more than she had ever felt before. She wanted out. She just wanted the pain to stop.

She wanted to die. Anything to stop what was happening.

“There we go!” Scootaloo happily exclaimed, holding up a piece of bloody meat.

“That looks great!” AppleBloom said, staring at the flesh in Scootaloo’s hoof. She grabbed it, and greedily shoved it in her mouth. She moaned as she chewed, it was just as delicious as it looked.

Pinkie Pie looked on in horror. Her whole world was crashing down on her. Nearly all her life, she lived in a constant state of happiness. Nothing ever really went wrong for her. When it did, she could usually just laugh it off. Now three fillies had her trapped in her basement and were slowly killing her. Nothing was making sense. She blinked. Her vision was starting to get blurry from blood loss. 

Scootaloo turned back to face Pinkie Pie, knife still in hand.

“Let’s ramp this up a bit.” She said. 

Scootaloo’s eyes glinted with sinister delight. She was enjoying every second of Pinkie Pie’s misery. It’s not that she didn’t like the pink party pony; she just couldn’t get enough of the thrill of inflicting pain. She had felt it when Sweetie Belle killed Mrs. Cheerilee. It was even stronger when Scootaloo was stabbing AppleJack. She could have gone on with it for an hour if AppleBloom hadn’t killed her so quickly.

Now, however, she had a pony all to herself. Sweetie Belle and AppleBloom were only there to restrain Pinkie Pie.

Smiling, she stabbed forward with the knife. It sunk right into Pinkie Pie’s left eye. A foul mixture of blood and ocular fluid dribbled from the wound. Pinkie let out a ragged gasp. Her other eye fluttered, then shut.

“No! Not yet!” Scootaloo thought. She started to panic. Pinkie Pie was slipping, she would be gone soon.  Scootaloo wanted more. She needed to feel the rush again.

She extracted the knife from Pinkie Pie’s skull. With a savage cry, she slashed it across Pinkie’s chest. A red mist flew from the knife. She slashed again. Again, the air was filled with splattered blood. She kept on cutting. All restraint was gone now, only her brutal sadism remained. She wanted Pinkie Pie to suffer until her last breath.

She continued her frenzied slashing, until Pinkie Pie’s chest was just a ragged mess of tattered skin and exposed muscle. Scootaloo stopped and stepped back to admire her handiwork Pinkie Pie was still breathing, but barely.

“Girls, help me out here” She pointed towards the oven.

The three fillies grabbed Pinkie Pie and clumsily dragged her towards the oven. With a grunt, they hoisted the mare into the front of it. Scootaloo turned a knob, and a fire sprang to life on the inside of the oven.

Through the small window on the oven’s door, they could see everything. Pinkie Pie’s skin began to crack and bubble in places. The fluid from her eye was simmering. Her chest rose for the last time, and then fell as the remaining life was drained from her. 

“Scootaloo, you did it.” AppleBloom said in awe.

“Yeah, I guess I did. Pinkie Pie is dead”

“No, I mean your cutie mark! You uhhh… have one!”

With a dim surprise, Scootaloo turned around to inspect her flank. Sure enough, there was a cutie mark shining on her backside. It showed the silhouette of a kneeling pony, with red cuts all over the body. A bloody smile dominated the face.

“Would you look at that” Scootaloo said. 

It seemed strange. She had worked toward this her entire life. Now that she had it, it didn’t really seem to matter. Ever since Mrs. Cheerilee’s death, she just wanted to feel the thrill of the kill, cutie mark or no.

“Looks like we have one more left to go.” She said. “Sweetie Belle, the last one is all yours. Who’s up?”

“Nopony, for now.” Sweetie Belle replied. “I want my cutie mark to be special. I know who I’m going to kill, but I’m going to wait until everypony starts to notice that ponies have gone missing. I want her scared when I do it.”

“All right, we’ll wait to get your cutie mark.” AppleBloom said. “What do we do until then?”

“Actually, I might need you guys to help me out with something.” Scootaloo said. Her eyes narrowed. 

“I have a score to settle with the newest Wonderbolt flyer.”


--==--


Twilight Sparkle hummed to herself as she walked along the path. It was such a beautiful day out, it rubbed off on her. She had decided to take the rest of the day off, as Spike had insisted he could take care of the rest of the chores. That might have had something to do with Owloysius being in the same room.

Twilight was about to turn the corner that led to the Everfree forest, when she saw Fluttershy trotting towards her. She was wearing a content smile, and seemed to be carrying herself a little bit taller than usual.

“Hey Fluttershy!” She said as she got closer. “You look like you’re in a good mood.”

“Oh yes, Twilight!” Fluttershy beamed, “It’s just such a perfect day. I was just out enjoying the fresh air. Where are you off to?”

“Zecora’s. I need some herbs for a transfiguration spell I’ve been working on.”

“Oh!” Fluttershy squeaked, “You can’t go to the forest now! It’s getting umm… dark out!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. It was only half past three.

“Thanks for the concern, Fluttershy, but I think I’ll be fine.” With that, she continued on her way.

“Oh dear.” Fluttershy whispered to herself, “I hope I hid Zecora’s body well enough.”

She nervously walked away, lost in fear and guilt. 

She wouldn’t trade her experience with the dead zebra for the world, though.


	--==--


End of part 4


> A Nail in the coffin
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 5
A Nail in the Coffin


Scootaloo sighed. This was harder than she thought. At least it was almost over.

The mood was sombre in the Ponyville cemetery. A crowd was gathered there to pay their respects to their lost loved ones for the second time in a week. At the front of the crowd were Granny Smith and AppleBloom, both dressed in black, with veils covering their faces. Granny Smith wept openly, while AppleBloom just stared at the ground.

A black casket was being carried towards an empty grave. Big Macintosh was carrying the front of it, along with Breaburn, who had traveled from Appleosia to bury his cousin. Two other stallions from the Apple family were behind them, carrying the rear of the casket. As they approached the hole in the ground, the pallbearers stopped and turned towards one another. Tears were flowing down Big Macintosh’s face.

After a few words, the casket was lowered into the ground. This was the final resting place of whatever was left ofAppleJack.

After most of the ponies had started to leave, Scootaloo approached the grave. AppleBloom was still standing there, along with Sweetie Belle, looking at the headstone. It was fairly simple, with only AppleJack’s cutie mark and a small inscription adorning it.


Here lies AppleJack
A shining beacon
Of honesty
And integrity


When AppleJack’s remains were discovered, the cause of death was declared to be an accident involving the juicer. When Cheerilee was discovered however, it was impossible to mistake it as anything other than a murder.

Scootaloo looked at her grave, where she was buried two days earlier. It was marked with a plaque that read:


Cheerilee
A true inspiration
For generations to come


The town had been whipped up into a frenzy following the discovery of her body. It was the first intentional killing in over a century.  The police ponies were ill-equipped to conduct an investigation, as most of the time they just prevented petty crimes. Murder was something completely new to them.

Then there was Pinkie Pie and Zecora, who were still missing. Twilight Sparkle had organized a search party, but to no avail. Three days had passed, with no sign of them. She was eventually forced to call off the search. The two missing mares were presumed dead.

Scootaloo smiled. Everything was coming together nicely. There was one thing left for her to do.

She turned towards the back of the crowd, towards the blue pegasus that was visiting from Canterlot. Her next target. Scootaloo had explained her plan to AppleBloom and Sweetie Bell earlier, and now they just had to get a head start.


--==--


Rainbow Dash looked around awkwardly. It had been months since she was last in Ponyville. It wasn’t exactly the best of circumstances that had brought her back, but she had to pay her final respects to AppleJack. Still, she felt out of place.

Tomorrow she and the three remaining elements of harmony were going to meet at the library and catch up. Dash wasn’t looking forward to that. She still felt guilty over leaving Ponyville the way she did. After she was invited to join the wonderbolts, she barely had time to say goodbye to everypony before leaving for Canterlot.

She said some quick goodbyes to the ponies attending the burial, then stretched her wings and flew towards the hotel she was staying at. She soared high above the clouds, where nopony would spot her. It was a little out of the way, but Dash was looking forward to the flight. She needed some time alone to think of something to say to her friends the next day. 

She looked down at the everfree forest below. It was starting to get dark out. Rainbow Dash felt a chill in the air, and dropped her altitude until she was just skimming above the treeline. The air was much warmer lower down. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the wind whipping through her mane. She was about to pull back up to the privacy of the clouds, when she heard a familiar voice call her name.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo called, “Come down here for a sec!”

Rainbow Dash looked down at the little pegasus on the ground.  Truthfully, Dash had actually missed her number one fan.  She glided down to meet her, expecting a torrent of questions about the wonderbolts.

As she touched down, she noticed that Scootaloo was wearing a black cape that covered her hindquarters. Dash figured she still hadn’t earned her cutie mark, so she chose to hide her flank. There was also an unsettling smile on her face.

“Hey squirt!” Dash exclaimed, “Long time no see! How have you been?”

“I’ve been fine. Still learning to fly.” Scootaloo said. Dash could have sworn her eyes narrowed as she said it. “How’s life in Canterlot with the wonderbolts?”

Here we go, Dash thought.

“It’s been pretty sweet. Being able to perform with them is like a dream come true! It’s like I’ve finally found what I was meant to do in life.” Rainbow Dash gushed.

“I know the feeling” Scootaloo said, “So where are you off to?”

“Just heading back to my hotel to get some shuteye. I’ve got a long day tomorrow, and I… Wait, why are you out here? Wouldn’t your parents be worried about you being out this late alone?”

“Oh, I’m not alone.” Scootaloo said, and she looked past Rainbow Dash.

Dash followed her gaze and turned around. To her surprise, Sweetie Belle and AppleBloom were standing behind her. AppleBloom was wearing a cape similar to Scootaloo’s, but Sweetie Belle’s back was bare. A saddlebag was hung over her shoulder.

“How did they sneak up on me like that?” Rainbow Dash thought. “This is starting to feel a little creepy.”

Scootaloo moved towards her.

“I need to ask you something.” She said. Her off-putting smile had faded. A scowl now crossed her face. “Why did you abandon me?”

“W-what?” Rainbow Dash stammered. She wasn’t sure she heard her right.

“I said, why did you abandon me? You promised to help me fly. You promised to help me find my cutie mark. Then you up and left without even bothering to say goodbye. You lied to me”

Dash felt a pang of guilt. “Scoots, I…”

“Don’t call me that! I’m not a little kid anymore!”

Rainbow Dash felt a lump form in her throat.

“Scootaloo, listen. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave so quickly. I didn’t have a choice. I can make it up to you.”

“Oh, I know you can.” Scootaloo said. Her smile returned. “You see, I’ve been busy since you left. I even got a cutie mark.”

With that, she whipped off her cape with her teeth. Underneath, Rainbow Dash saw that Scootaloo indeed had a mark. It was the strangest one she had ever seen. It looked like a black pony with crimson streaks across its body. The sight of it made her skin crawl.

“What is that?” She asked.

“It’s what I’m best at. Pain.” Scootaloo stepped towards her former idol.

“Scootaloo…” Dash sputtered. Suspicion crept into her voice. “What did you do?”

“I killed a pony.” Scootaloo said, as if nothing was at all out of the ordinary. “I also helped kill three others. But before they died, I made them suffer.”

“What are you talking about? What did you do to my friends?” Rainbow Dash’s wings flared open in rage.

“I just told you. We killed Mrs. Cheerilee. We killed Zecora. We killed AppleJack. I killed Pinkie Pie.” Scootaloo shoved her face forwards with each word. She was inches from Rainbow Dash.

“You little…!” Dash reeled back as if to strike Scootaloo. She was stopped, however, by a sudden sharp pain in her back. She turned around, and saw a needle sticking out of her, surrounded by a fading turquoise glow.

Her vision immediately started to fade. Swaying slightly, she turned back to face Scootaloo.

“I hope the mark was worth it.”

“It wasn’t. But what’s coming up will be.”


--==--


The cutie mark crusaders had dragged the unconscious Rainbow Dash deep into the forest. After they had found a suitable location, Sweetie Belle had begun to unpack her saddlebag. She laid out several long nails neatly beside a tree. 

Scootaloo and AppleBloom propped Rainbow Dash against the tree. Scootaloo had chosen this tree specifically, for the way its trunk looked in the night. It was twisted and knotted to look like a snarling face. The perfect spot for the task at hand. Scootaloo pulled a hammer from Sweetie Belle’s saddlebag.

“Bell, get the binding spell ready.” She said.

Sweetie Belle nodded, and summoned the necessary magic. Turquoise light surrounded Rainbow Dash’s limbs and wings, and she was lifted off the ground and pressed against the tree. The movement seemed to wake dash slightly.

Her eyes slowly opened. Scootaloo saw her rose irises struggle to focus on the scene in front of her. Dash groaned and tried to flex her hooves. However, upon feeling the magical resistance, her eyes bolted open.

“What’s going on?” She cried. Dash looked down and saw the cutie mark crusaders looking up at her. The memories of what happened before she was drugged started to flow back to her. Her heart was pounding. Her eyes drifted to the row of nails lined up in front of her.

Dash had seen enough. She pushed her wings furiously against the tree, attempting to gain leverage over her restraints. She felt the resistance slip slightly, but it still had her pinned.

“I guess we’re doing the wings first. AppleBloom, hold down the left one while I work.” Scootaloo ordered.

Scootaloo grabbed two nails with her mouth. Then, she and AppleBloom climbed up to one of the lower branches to get a better reach. AppleBloom grabbed Dash’s wing and held it tight against the trunk. Dash struggled, and her sensitive wing rubbed painfully against the rough bark.

“Let go of me you psychos! I’ll kill you for this!” Rainbow Dash’s voice cracked in fury.

“Not likely.” Replied Scootaloo simply. She carefully lined up one of the nails. The tip brushed against Dash’s feathers.

Feeling the metal spike, Rainbow Dash realized what was about to happen. Panicking, she strained one final time to free her wing from Sweetie Belle’s magic and AppleBloom’s grasp. Gritting her teeth, she pulled her wing to the breaking point. The magic started to lose its hold. Dash kept up the pressure, wincing as she felt tendons strain and tear from the intense load. She was almost there, just a little more…

Scootaloo brought her hammer down. The nail tore through the thin tissue of the wing. Dash gave a shaky scream as cold steel tore through her, setting her nerves on fire.  It was more pain than she had ever felt. Blood began to seep around the nail, staining Dash’s cyan feathers. 

Scootaloo struck again. The nail sunk deep into the wood underneath. Tremors of the impact sent waves of agony up the ruined wing. Dash screamed again. Her wing instinctively tried to snap shut, causing the trauma around the wound to double.

“Why are you doing this?” Rainbow Dash sobbed. “Because I joined the Wonderbolts? I had to! I worked towards it my entire life! It was my dream!”

“No, it’s because you turned your back on me!” Scootaloo screamed, “You want to whine about dreams? All I ever wanted was for you to respect me! That was my dream! Instead, you just left me behind me like I was nothing. You killed my hopes. Now, I’m here to make it even.”

Scootaloo moved over to the other wing. This time, Dash didn’t struggle. Her body was still in shock from the first nail being driven into her. She wouldn’t dare try to move anyway, in fear of ruining her wing further.

Scootaloo held another nail over the skin and feathers of Dash’s right wing. She took her time, savoring the pained expression on Dash’s face. Ignoring the hammer, she started pushing the point against the wing with her hoof. Rainbow Dash whimpered.

Scootaloo applied more pressure. As the pain grew, Dash turned away. She couldn’t bear to look at the mutilation anymore. She gasped as she felt the spike pass through her skin and into the muscle underneath. Then the hammer came down again. It drove the nail clean through the rest of the wing, embedding it in the tree. Despite her best efforts, Rainbow Dash screamed again, tearing her throat.

“Ok, Sweetie Belle, you can let go now.” Said Scootaloo, hopping to the ground.

Sweetie Belle nodded and severed the flow of magic. Immediately, Rainbow Dash’s body slumped towards the ground, transferring her full weight onto her punctured wings. The left one tore even more, leaving a ragged gash that extended from the nail. Blood was seeping into the knots of the tree, giving it an even more frightening appearance.

Her legs now unrestrained, Dash tried to push herself free. However, as she struggled, her torn wings screamed in protest, while still remaining firmly nailed down. After a few seconds, she couldn’t take the pain any more. It was like her wings were on fire. She went limp, having been utterly spent.

Scootaloo grabbed another nail from the row. With a casual demeanor, she lined it up with the joint where Rainbow Dash’s left rear hoof met her leg. She brought her hammer back behind her head. She knew she would have to swing as hard as she could.

With a grunt, she hammered the nail home with all her weight. The force of the impact concentrated on the small point broke through Dash’s shin bone, embedding the spike within the marrow. The blue pegasus gave a choking sob. Scootaloo swung again. The nail sank an inch deeper. With a third swing, the bone split completely.

Rainbow Dash couldn't take much more. She looked down at Scootaloo.

"Scoots... please... stop this."

Ignoring her, Scootaloo kept swinging until she hit wood. There was now a pool of blood on the forest floor.

She drove another nail into Dash’s right leg. This time, Rainbow Dash barely noticed. Her body had started to go numb, overloaded with pain. She could feel unconsciousness taking over, tantalizing her with its sweet relief. However, she found the strength to say one last thing to her number one fan.

“Was it worth it?”

As Dash passed out, Scootaloo pondered what she had said. Had it all been worth it? Almost. Just one more touch, and it would be perfect.

She grabbed the last nail and climbed up the tree until she was eye level with Rainbow Dash. She pressed the point against Dash’s forehead.

“Goodbye, Rainbow.”

She lashed out with her hammer, driving the nail cleanly through Rainbow Dash’s skull. Dash’s eyes popped open in one last moment of agony, and then rolled back. It was done.

It was worth it.

For good measure, Scootaloo took a knife from Sweetie Belle’s bag and slit Rainbow Dash’s throat. Blood seeped from the wound, but it didn’t pour out like when AppleBloom did the same to AppleJack.

“Well girls, it’s been fun, but we should really get out of here.” Scootaloo said, admiring her handywork.

“Right, and I need to pay my sister a visit.” Sweetie Belle replied. She started to imitate her sister’s accent. “She must be oh so scared about all these deaths. Somepony has to take care of her.”

Scootaloo and AppleBloom grinned. It was about time they visited the Carousel Boutique. Sweetie Belle was overdue for a cutie mark anyway.


--==--
End of Chapter 5

> Sweet and Elite
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 6 
Sweet and Elite


Rarity huffed in annoyance. This was starting to get ridiculous.

“Really” She thought, “After everything that has happened, she could at least do us the courtesy of showing up on time. Especially after all that has happened.”

She, Twilight, and Fluttershy were gathered around one of the tables in the library. Before AppleJack’s burial, Rarity had planned for the three of them to spend the day with Rainbow Dash and reminisce. Too many good ponies were gone, and it was putting everypony on edge. Rarity had felt it necessary to take the tension off over a cup of tea.

One crucial pony was missing however. Rainbow Dash was nearly an hour late.

“Well, it’s just like old times, I guess.” Twilight said with a weak laugh.

“Twilight, you know this was important.” Replied Rarity. “If she had any respect at all, she would have been here by now!”

Twilight sighed. “Rarity, you know Dash wouldn’t do this on purpose. She’s always had trouble being on time. Being a wonderbolt probably hasn’t helped.”

“Still, that doesn’t excuse her. She knows-“

Rarity was interrupted by a sharp knock at the door.

“I’ll get it.” Said Twilight, rising to her hooves. She strode across the library and opened the door.

On the other side were two grim-looking police ponies. One removed his cap and looked to the ground.

“Ma’am, we reget to inform you that we…” The police pony swallowed, and looked away.

“We’ve found a body.” Finished the other one.

“Oh no” Said Twilight weakly. She turned away from the police to hide her tears.

“Zecora?” Fluttershy asked. She got to her hooves with a look of concern.

“No.” Said the first officer, regaining his composure. “You should probably come with us.”

“Right” Replied Twilight. “Rarity, can you come with me? I don’t want to do this alone.”

“Twilight, I really don’t think I…”

“I’ll come” Whispered Fluttershy, just loud enough for the others to hear.

Twilight and Rarity turned to her in surprise.

“A-are you sure?” Asked Twilight. This was very unusual for Fluttershy to volunteer for something like this.

“I’m sure.” Affirmed Fluttershy, with steely resolve edging into her voice.

“All right.” Said Twilight. “Let’s go. Rarity, We’ll meet you at the boutique when we get back.”


--==--


Sweetie Bell watched from across the street. She could see the police talking with Mrs. Sparkle at the library, though she couldn’t hear what was being said. Mrs. Sparkle looked like she was crying. A few seconds later, the three ponies left towards the Everfree forest, along with Fluttershy. Rarity came out moments later, and walked towards the Carousel Boutique, her eyes cast downward.

“All right girls, let’s go.” She said to her friends. 

Scootaloo and AppleBloom were with her. Sweetie Belle could feel Scootaloo’s anticipation, and AppleBloom had a hungry look in her eye. Sweetie Belle knew what her friends wanted. She wouldn’t disappoint them.

Sweetie Belle would have preferred to save this for later. At least until Mrs. Sparkle and Fluttershy were dealt with. However, with the police involved, everypony was on high alert. It wouldn’t be too much longer until ponies started to get suspicious of the crusaders. Sweetie Belle planned to be far away from Ponyville when that started.

The crusaders raced back to the boutique and entered the back door. They then waited in the dark, staying completely silent. They sat there for around five minutes, until the front door opened. Rarity stepped through, and carefully shut it behind her.

As soon as she thought she was in private, Rarity gave a loud wail and ran sobbing to her favorite couch in the corner. She threw herself onto it, crying into a pillow.

“Oh who is it now? I can’t take this anymore!” She yelled to nopony. “I’ve already lost four friends, I won’t lose another! Why is this happening to me?”

“You selfish foal.”

Rarity squealed and jumped, whipping her head towards the unexpected voice. She sighed with relief when she saw Sweetie Belle step out from the shadows. She was about to walk over to her sister, when her words sunk in.

“What did you say to me?” Rarity snapped. She was in no mood for her little sister to be talking to her like that.

“I said you’re being a self-centered little foal. Like you’ve always been. Just an overgrown brat.” Said Sweetie Belle.

Rarity was taken aback. Her and her sister fought all the time, but not without reason. For Sweetie Belle to just start hurling insults was completely uncharacteristic. Something was wrong and Rarity knew it. However, that didn’t stop her from rising to Sweetie Belle’s taunts.

“Who do you think you are young lady? You have no idea what I’ve been through!”

“Yes, I do. Everypony does. Do you know why? Because they’ve all been going through the same thing! Yet it’s just you who is sitting alone whining about it.” Sweetie Belle said. “For the element of generosity, you’re acting particularly selfish.”

"You don’t know what you’re talking about” Said Rarity defensively. She turned around to drop back into the comfort of her sofa. She didn’t have the energy or will to go toe-to-toe with her sister right at that moment.

“Yes I do”

Rarity tried to turn anound and retort, but was stopped by Sweetie Belle’s hoof slamming into her muzzle. Rarity reeled back, stunned.

“Sweetie Belle, you just… What the hay is wrong with you?” Rarity demanded. Her carefully controlled demeanour had faded away as she rubbed the spot where Sweetie Belle had punched her.

“You. You are what’s wrong.  You are incapable of doing anything other than complaining. Anytime something is wrong, all you do is bitch and moan while everypony else drags you along. You think you know pain? You think you know fear? You don’t even know the meaning of those words. Not yet anyway.”

Rarity’s jaw dropped. For a few seconds, she could only stand there, with her hoof to her face. Finally she moved. Dignity forgotten, she rounded on her little sister, her horn glowing with magic. However, she stopped short when she noticed the two other fillies that had joined Sweetie Belle.

AppleBloom and Scootaloo were standing on either side of Sweetie Belle. AppleBloom was clutching a syringe in her mouth, while Scootaloo held a curved knife. They were both staring at Rarity with an excited glint in their eyes. 

Sweetie Belle grabbed the needle from AppleBloom with her magic.

“I know what you’re most afraid of. Do you?”


--==--


Rarity woke up in a haze. Groaning, she looked around. Her room. She must have passed out while working. Rarity realized she had a terrible headache. Her forehead felt like it was split open. She moved to rub her temple. As she did, her hoof brushed against something hard.

She looked towards where she felt the disturbance and gasped. Her hooves were tied to the posts of her bed with lengths of red ribbon. She could still move each hoof a little, but the bindings were tight. She struggled for a bit, but couldn’t get free. 

As she struggled, she started to remember what happened. Not the whole event, but bits and pieces. She remembered a struggle with her sister. Scootaloo and AppleBloom were there too. There was something about a needle, then nothing. Everything went dark after that.

Rarity reached for her magic, trying to untie herself. Nothing came. She tried again, concentrating harder. Again, she couldn’t access her powers. Rarity grunted in frustration.

“Having trouble sis?”

Rarity looked over her stomach towards the far wall. The three cutie mark crusaders were there. They were standing so still that Rarity hadn’t noticed them at first. With a chill, she saw that Scootaloo was still holding the curved knife.

“What’d you do to me?” Rarity slurred. The sleeping drug hadn’t worn off completely.

Sweetie Belle said nothing, but nodded towards Rarity’s left hoof.

Rarity looked to where Sweetie Belle indicated. It was the same place where she had felt something brush against her. She squinted, and through her blurred vision, she saw something. It was a small cone, as white as her coat. A shallow grove spiraled along its length.

Rarity’s eyes shot open. The after-effects of the drug were shaken off immediately by the sight of it. Horror welled up inside of her as she stared at the object. She knew exactly what she was looking at.

A unicorn horn. Her unicorn horn.

Rarity turned away. Tears welled in her eyes. She leaned over the other side of her bed as much as possible and vomited onto the floor. She turned towards her sister, Hatred boiling inside of her.

“When I get out of here, you are in for a world of hurt.” Rarity snarled. 

Sweetie Belle made no reply. She simply walked over to the side of the room towards a large mirror that Rarity used to help her fit dresses. With a grunt, Sweetie Belle pushed it towards the side of the bed, aligning it so Rarity could get a good look at herself.

Rarity gasped at what she saw. Where her horn would have been, a stump remained.  The rest of her face was covered in purple bruises. Rarity gave a choking sob and tried to look away from the terrible sight her own face had become. However, Sweetie Belle held her head still with magic.

She stepped behind her sister’s head so Rarity could see her in the mirror.

“You know what your problem is?” Asked Sweetie Belle, “You think you have it a lot tougher than you actually do. You have a really good life, but you constantly complain how hard everything is. You have no idea what real fear or pain is like. So I’m going to show you. I’m doing you a favor, really.”

Sweetie Belle took the knife from Scootaloo. Still holding Rarity’s head, she gently placed the blade on her cheek. Rarity whimpered and looked down at it, holding absolutely still.

“Do you know what you are really afraid of most? It’s not just losing your beauty like everypony thinks. No it’s more than that.”

“Sweetie Belle…” Rarity said carefully, “Get that knife away from me…”

Sweetie Belle continued talking as if Rarity hadn’t said anything.

“You’re afraid of ponies looking down on you. That why you are so afraid of doing anything that would diminish the veil of dignity you made for yourself. You want everypony to think that you’re above them.”

Sweetie Belle adjusted the knife so that it was pointing directly down at Rarity’s face. The tip drew a pinprick of blood.

Sweetie Belle pressed the tip of the knife against Rarity’s face. It slipped through her pearl-white skin. With almost no effort, the blade cut right through the muscle, entering the cavity of the mouth.

Rarity shrieked as blood dripped down her face. Some poured into her mouth and down her throat, causing her to gag. The copper taste combined with the pain nearly made her throw up again.

Sweetie Belle continued pushing. The knife sunk deeper into Rarity’s face, widening the wound. Rarity tried to cry out, but her tongue rubbed against the edge of the blade. With a muted whine, she felt a layer of flesh peel away from it. 

Finally, the tip of the knife met with the inside of Rarity’s other cheek. Feeling the resistance, Sweetie Belle plunged the knife down hard. It tore through the tissue, and sank into the sheets below. Sweetie Belle let go of the knife and stepped back.

Rarity was sobbing gently into the bed. The knife that was shoved through her face was pure agony. Every breath she took sent a lance of pain through her mouth. Her heart pounded, sending torrents of blood from the twin gashes. A crimson stain had started to form on the bedsheets.

“I wonder what everypony would think of you now.” Mocked Sweetie Belle. “The great designer Rarity, all disfigured and crying like a foal.

“I think that knife is starting to hurt a little” Said Scootaloo from behind her. A grisly smile of delight split her features.  “Maybe you should take it out.”

Sweetie Belle nodded to her friend and grabbed the handle of the knife once more. With a smile she started so saw the blade back and forth, pulling it towards the front of Rarity’s mouth. Two red gashes were left in the wake of the knife as it traveled forth. Rarity screamed and tried to clamp her teeth down on the blade, slowing it.

Feeling the resistance, Sweetie Belle punched Rarity as hard as she could in the eye. Reeling back, Rarity briefly opened her mouth in shock. It was all the time Sweetie Belle needed.

She savagely tore the knife forward, creating a clean cut out of Rarity’s mouth. A line of blood splashed across the mirror as the blade arced outwards. Rarity’s mouth opened wide as she cried out, separating the two gashes that now dominated her face. Twin rivers of blood poured down her chin.

Rarity looked at herself in the mirror. The cuts made it look like her mouth extended halfway up her face. Though she looked on in horror, her reflection gave a bloody smile back to her. She closed her eyes, unable to bear the sight of her own face any longer.

“Oh no you don’t!” Sweetie Belle snapped.

She used magic to grasp the eyelashes on one of Rarity’s eyes and pull them outwards. She then brought the tip of the knife down and traced a line across the eyelid. The whisper-thin membrane separated and peeled away from Rarity’s face. Sweetie Belle repeated the procedure with the other eye. She then stepped back to give Rarity a good look at the mirror.

Rarity simply gaped at the monster staring at her through the mirror. Her eyes were now permanently open, giving her a surprised appearance. Blood welled from her eyes and dripped down her face, mixing with her tears. Combined with her new mouth, she looked to be in a perpetual state of demented glee.

“So, how do you like your new makeover?” Teased Sweetie Belle.

Rarity gave no answer. She just stared at her reflection.

Sweetie Belle leaned closer.  She examined her handiwork closely, delighting in her sister’s fear and pain.

Suddenly, Rarity broke from her catatonic state, and lunged forward with her forehead. She caught Sweetie Belle in the nose, sending her reeling back. In her surprise, Sweetie Belle dropped her knife in front of Rarity’s face.

Rarity grabbed it with her teeth, and wrenched her head out of Sweetie Belle’s magic. She quickly cut her left hoof free of the ribbon. She spat the knife into the palm of her hoof and stared down at it. 

Sweetie Bell rubbed her nose. A trickle of blood dripped from it. Scootaloo and AppleBloom cautiously stepped back from Rarity. Now that she had the knife, there was no telling what she would do.

But Rarity just sat there, knife in hoof. Her deranged face was impossible to read. It looked like she was smiling down at it, as if it was the greatest thing she had ever seen; her eyes wide in a mask of excitement. Finally she moved.

She brought the knife up to her own throat. She gave one last look at her sister. Their eyes locked for a lingering second. Sweetie Belle looked through the monster’s smiling features, into her tortured sister underneath.

Rarity plunged the knife into her herself. A fountain of blood spewed forward. Rarity jerked the knife to the side, severing her own windpipe. She didn’t cry out. She didn’t even whimper as she collapsed backward onto the bed.

There she lied, dead. The crusaders looked on in shock, not entirely sure what to think of what just happened.

“We should get out of here,” Said AppleBloom nervously. “Mrs. Sparkle and Fluttershy will be back soon.” Scootaloo nodded in agreement.

“You guys go on ahead. I just want to leave a surprise for the next pony who comes through here.” Sweetie Belle replied. She walked to a nearby desk and removed a bottle of glue from its drawer. She then grabbed Rarity’s horn from the bed.

“I’ll catch up in a little bit, and we'll meet at the clubhouse. Scootaloo, leave your knife here. ”

As she got to work, Sweetie Belle didn’t even notice the cutie mark that was forming on her flank.


--==--


Spike walked across town towards Carousel Boutique. He had seen Rarity come through here earlier. He wanted to go check on her. He knew she wasn’t taking the deaths of her friends well.

He came to his destination, and knocked on the door.

“Rarity, are you there?”

There was no reply.

Spike cautiously opened the door. It was pitch black inside. He squinted and fumbled around for the light switch. He found it, and flicked it on. The intense showroom lights that Rarity favored blazed to life, blinding Spike temporarily.

He blinked, and saw a figure in the centre of the room. The familiar silhouette of his beloved Rarity came into focus.

“There you are, Rarity!” He said, running over to her. “I’ve been kinda worried about you.”

As he got closer, his vision started to improve. He was now able to see her features clearly. The sight made him stop in his tracks.

Her face was almost unrecognisable. A crimson smile crossed it. It had a sinester look to it. Where Rarity’s eyes should have been, there were only bulging sockets, filled with cotton. Stitched cuts crossed her body, most promenantly across her throat, where her once-white coat was permanently stained red.

Seeing the mutilated pony before him was too much for the young dragon. He swayed, and collapsed onto the floor, passed out.


--==--
End of chapter 6


> We All Fall Down
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 7

We All Fall Down


Twilight Sparkle stared at the tree in disbelief. This couldn’t be happening. It was like a nightmare she couldn’t wake up from. As she looked on, memories welled up inside of her. Her first slumber party. The best young flyers competition. The countless adventures to save Ponyville. Tears started to silently flow from Twilight’s eyes. She blinked, and then gazed directly into a pair of muted red irises.

She was looking into the dead eyes of Rainbow Dash. One of her closest friends. Dash had been crudely crucified to the tree, with four nails going through her wings and rear legs. A final nail was driven through her skull. As if this torture wasn’t enough, Dash’s throat had been slit.

Twilight turned away in disgust. She couldn’t have imagined that anypony would be sick enough to do this. She looked over to Fluttershy. The poor thing was in shock. She was staring unblinking at Rainbow Dash, her mouth hanging open slightly. Her wings had unfurled slightly.

Twilight turned to the police officers. 

“Why did you bring us here?”

“We needed next of kin to identify and claim the body.” One of them said, “Since none could be found, we turned to her associates.”

Twilight couldn’t help but roll her eyes. As if Rainbow Dash was hard to identify.

“Have you found anything about who did this?” She asked.

“The investigation is still ongoing.” Said the other officer.

“I guess that’s a no.” Twilight thought.

She paused to look over the scene. Dried blood was everywhere. Hoofprints were left from where the investigators had been working. It didn’t look like they had taken much care to avoid contamination.

Twilight squinted at one of the sets of prints. It looked a lot smaller than the others. She looked around a little and found the same tracks everywhere, especially around the base of the tree. Twilight moved closer to inspect the branches around Rainbow Dash.

The same small hoofprints were imprinted in the blood that covered the branches. It was as if a filly had climbed the tree while Rainbow dash was nailed there. 

“What kid would climb all over a dead body and not tell anypony?” Twilight thought.

She backed away from the tree, taking care not to let her gaze linger on her deceased friend. It had been bad enough to see the remains of Cheerilee and Applejack, but this was different. It was as if Rainbow Dash had been put on display for everypony to see. There was no attempt to hide the crime. It seemed like whoever was doing this had stopped caring about secrecy.

“Are we free to go now?” Twilight asked the officers.

“Of course ma’am” one replied, “We can escort you back to Ponyville, if you like.”

Twilight glanced at Fluttershy. The pale pegasus was still rooted to the same spot, staring at Rainbow Dash.

“No thank you officers. I think we just need to be alone right now.” Twilight replied.

“Alright then, be careful. If you know anything that might help the investigation, come by the station.”

Twilight nodded and started to leave. However, she noticed that Fluttershy wasn’t moving.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy made no response. She just stood there, staring. Her wings were now completely open. Twilight guessed it was some sort of defensive reflex. Carefully, she stepped between Fluttershy and the tree, breaking her gaze.

“Fluttershy, we need to leave now.” She said gently, “The police need to continue their investigation.”

Fluttershy only gave a choked squeak in response. However, her eyes sank to the ground and she turned towards Ponyville. The two started to head home. There was nothing Twilight could say to the shell-shocked Fluttershy to make anything better, so they walked in silence.

An hour later, they crossed the bridge that lead to Fluttershy’s cottage. Without a word, Fluttershy turned towards her home. Her wings now hung loosely at her sides, it was as if Fluttershy was too depressed to even fold them up properly.

“Are you going to be ok?” Asked Twilight nervously.

Fluttershy stopped. She slowly raised her head and looked towards the Everfree forest. She opened he mouth, but no sound came out. She cleared her throat and tried again.

“I’ll be fine.”

Twilight nodded and began to walk to towards the library. She made a mental note to check on Fluttershy later. Despite what she said, Twilight doubted that the fragile mare would easily recover from seeing her friend like that.

Twilight walked through the streets of Ponyville in solitary misery. She barley even noticed the ponies she passed by on her way home. However, she was suddenly snapped out of her depression when Sweetie Belle bumped into her as she sprinted from the Carousel Boutique across town.

“Ouch!” Twilight cried. “Sweetie Belle, you really need to watch where you’re going…”

Twilight trailed off, as sweetie belle had continued her breakneck pace towards the outskirts of town. Twilight squinted at the filly as she ran away. Strangely, she seemed to be carrying something long and red in her mouth. Stranger still, Twilight could have sworn there was a cutie mark on her flank.

Twilight shrugged and continued walking. Let somepony else deal with it, she thought. She just wanted to get to her bed and rest.

Across town, she saw spike walking towards the Boutique. The little dragon had the slightest spring in his step. Twilight smiled slightly as she watched him.

“There goes the brave knight, off to comfort his princess” Twilight thought with amusement.

She stopped suddenly when she thought of Rarity. Her friend needed to know what happened. She hesitated when she noticed that Spike had entered the boutique. This wouldn’t be easy for the dragon to hear. However, Twilight knew that she would have to tell him eventually, and it would be easiest when both she and Rarity were present.

Twilight steeled herself and trotted towards the boutique. As she got closer, she heard Spike’s voice.

“There you are Rarity! I’ve been kinda worried about you.”

Then there was silence, followed by a muffled thud.

Panic brought on by her already frayed nerves drove Twilight to sprint the rest of the way at the sound of the disturbance. Her mind immediately jumped to several worse-case scenarios.

“Please be ok, please be ok, please be ok…”

Twilight burst through the open door. She looked around, and her heart skipped a beat at what she saw. There on the ground, was Spike. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“No… not Spike… please…”

Twilight unconsciously held her breath and cautiously edged towards his prone figure. As she neared, she could see his chest gently raising and lowering.

Twilight exhaled and slumped to the ground in relief. She moved closer to Spike to inspect him. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the dragon, it just looked like he passed out. Twilight looked around the Boutique. There was a line of mannequins along the far wall. One was different from the others, however.

A chill ran down Twilight’s spine. In an instant, she knew what caused Spike to faint. There, in the middle of the row of mannequins, was the corpse of a horribly disfigured unicorn. Although its face had been mutilated and cuts crisscrossed its body, there was no mistaking who it was.

Twilight let out a small whimper. She had just seen Rarity a few hours ago. She was perfectly fine when Twilight left her. Now she was…

The trauma of the week’s events suddenly came down on Twilight. She collapsed, sobbing. Images flashed in her head. Cheerilee, Zecora, AppleJack, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and now Rarity. They were all gone. Every friend she had was being taken away from her one by one.

Twilight got to her hooves again. Anger flashed in her eyes. She would find whoever was responsible, and bring them to justice. She needed to get to the police station. She had to tell somepony. Twilight swallowed hard, not looking forward to breaking the news to Rarity’s family.

“wait a minute…” Twilight thought, “I just saw Sweetie Belle running from here. Maybe she knows something!”

Her heart racing, Twilight glanced at Spike. He was still out cold. She gently lifted him onto a nearby couch, then raced out the door. 

“Ok, first, find Sweetie Belle and find out if she knows what happened. Then, the police station.”

Twilight bolted through Ponyville. She had seen the general direction where Sweetie Belle had gone. If Twilight had to guess, she was headed for their tree fort on the outskirts of town. It wasn’t long before she was there.

When she neared the tree, Twilight paused to catch her breath. She walked forward, trying to appear as calm as possible. It wouldn’t help if Sweetie Belle saw her in hysterics.

As she approached the ladder leading to the clubhouse, she heard Sweetie Belle talking to somepony. It sounded like Scootaloo and AppleBloom.

“…going to get a nice little surprise when they walk in.”

“How’d you manage that?”

“She taught me some basic sewing stuff. The rest I just improvised.”

“We could have used that when we were cleaning up after Cheerilee.”

Twilight stopped cold. Her mind again raced to conclusions, but she tried to suppress it. Still, she couldn’t help but tiptoe the rest of the way to the ladder. She carefully started to climb, trying to be as quiet as possible.

“I guess I forgot. hehe.”

“Well, anyway, we have to figure out where we are going to go, now that the police are after us.”

“We don’t know that they’re after us!”

“AppleBloom, that’s six ponies we’ve taken out. The cops were bound to pick up our trail eventually.”

Twilight silently gasped. Her heart raced. 

“Stay calm,” she told herself, “It’s just some stupid game they’re playing.”

She craned her neck to look between the crack under the door. She saw the three cutie mark crusaders sitting around a small table. Sweetie Belle was closest, and beside her, Twilight saw what she had been carrying when the bumped into each other earlier.

It was a long knife. The blade was covered in blood.

Twilight cried out slightly, then shoved her hoof into her mouth in panic.

It was too late. Scootaloo’s head turned towards the noise, and she ran to the door. She flung it open, catching Twilight on the forehead with it.

Stars exploded in Twilights vision as she was knocked back off the ladder. She hit the ground hard, driving the air from her lungs. Some part of her noticed the three crusaders standing in the doorway, with fear in their eyes.

“Busted.” Said Sweetie Belle dumbly.

Scootaloo grabbed the knife from the ground. With a snarl, she leapt from the doorway, raising the blade above her head.

Twilight couldn’t move; there was no time. Everything seemed to move slower as Scootaloo brought the knife down, aimed directly at Twilight’s heart. Twilight could see the fury in her face as she fell.

Without thinking, Twilight summoned her magic. A basic pushback spell. Her horn glowed a brilliant purple, and she tried to release a wave of energy towards her attacker. However, her mind was still clouded from the impact of the door. This, combined with her frayed nerves, caused Twilight to momentarily lose concentration. Without realizing it, Twilight dumped nearly all of her energy into the single spell.

A brilliant purple explosion lit the area. Scootaloo was rocketed upwards. With a resounding crack, she flew through one of the branches of the tree and continued straight up for another twenty feet. For a moment, she just seemed to hover in the air. Then she fell. There was a faint snap when she impacted the ground.

Scootaloo was still. Her neck was bent at an unnatural angle, and a sliver of bone poked through her front leg. Blood started to pool around her. The knife landed beside her, its blade sinking into the ground.

Sweetie Belle and AppleBloom stared down at their unmoving friend. Tears welled in AppleBloom’s eyes, while Sweetie Belle just stared, mouth agape. In unison, they both turned to Twilight, who was struggling to collect herself after her strenuous spell. Sweetie Belle was the first to act.

“You monster!” She screamed, her voice cracking in fury.

Sweetie Belle telekinetically grabbed the knife from the ground. With a snarl, she flung it with all the force she could muster. The blade flew through the air, towards Twilight’s chest.

It sank into her skin, cutting through muscle. With a shock, Twilight felt the tip sink into one of her ribs. The impact knocked the wind out of her, stopping her from screaming out from the sudden pain.

Sweetie Belle and AppleBloom dropped down to the ground. Sweetie Belle grabbed the knife and tore it from Twilight.  

“You killed her!” she shrieked, “You killed her!”

Sweetie Belle lunged forward with the knife, stabbing upwards. The blade disappeared below Twilight’s chin. It sliced through the soft tissue, and nearly cut her tongue in half. Sweetie Belle pushed until she felt the resistance of the roof of Twilight’s mouth. Twilight cried out in agony as the blade slammed into her. 

“You killed her. Now, you are going to die. Right here, right now.”

Twilight Sparkle stared into Sweetie Belle’s eyes in horror. She knew the filly wasn’t bluffing. She tried to escape, but Sweetie Belle held her head steady with the knife. In desperation, Twilight reached for her magic once again.

AppleBloom saw her horn glowing and aimed a savage buck towards Twilight’s forehead. Her hooves met with the base of Twilight’s horn, and with a resounding snap, it broke cleanly off.

A cold emptiness filled Twilight as the connection to her magical energy was instantly severed. Twilight’s heart nearly stopped cold. The pain was indescribable. Every nerve in her head felt as if it had been split open. She didn’t know if she was alive or dead. All that she was conscious of was the volcano of agony that was erupting from her destroyed horn. 

Then, as quickly as the pain came, it faded away. Twilight went limp. She was emotionally drained; the trauma of losing her horn was too much for her to bear. She wasn’t even aware of what Sweetie Belle was doing with the knife.

Sweetie Belle pulled down on it, drawing a line straight down Twilight’s throat. Instantly, a torrent of blood poured from the wound. As she finished the cut, the inside of Twilight’s wind pipe was completely exposed. 

Sweetie Belle was finished. With tears in her eyes, she turned away from Twilight to look at AppleBloom.

“Come on, we need to get going.”

“What about Scootaloo?” Asked AppleBloom.

Sweetie Belle looked at Scootaloo’s body. The little pegasus still hadn’t moved. Blood no longer flowed from the injury on her leg.

“She’s gone, AppleBloom” Sweetie Belle said, “We have to leave her. We need to be far away by the time somepony finds Ms. Sparkle’s body.”

AppleBloom said nothing, but nodded.

Twilight looked at them from the ground. She couldn’t move, but she was still conscious enough to see her surroundings. It was here that Twilight got her only good look at Sweetie Belle’s cutie mark. Unlike her friends, Sweetie Belle’s was simple and unassuming. It was just a broken hourglass. Nothing more.
Twilight pondered this in the last few moments of her life. Her vision faded first. Her other senses followed. Finally, there was nothing. Twilight slipped into the void.

The element of magic died.

The end.